SYDNEY, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose against their U.S. counterpart on Thursday as buoyant equities whetted risk appetites, sending the yen to an 11-month low against the kiwi.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 edged up to $0.7490, from a trough of $0.7417 touched on Wednesday. It has proved resilient to two sets of surprisingly weak data at home, including a A$1.5 billion trade deficit. ECONAU
On Wednesday, figures showed the economy shrank for the first time since 2011, raising the possibility of a recession following 25 years of uninterrupted growth.
Yet prices for Australia's major resource exports, including iron ore and coal, are on a bull run thanks to demand from China.
"The Aussie is more influenced by the trend in commodity prices than the pace of economic growth," said Elias Haddad, a senior strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
"That's why it shrugged off the very weak gross domestic product reading."
Interbank futures 0#YIB: imply scant chance of another rate cut in the next few months.
The Aussie managed to briefly pierce stiff resistance at 75 cents to reach the highest level in three-weeks. A sustained break above that, would open the door to the 50 percent retracement of the November move around $0.7550.
The Aussie held near 7-month peaks against the safe haven yen around 85 AUDJPY=R , while its Kiwi neighbour emerged as the clear outperformer.
It climbed to 82 yen AUDJPY=R , a top not seen since early January. A break above 82.34 would be this year's high.
Against the U.S. dollar, the kiwi sped up to $0.7200 NZD=D4 , from $0.7154 early, having touched a one-month peak of $0.7212 on improving appetite for risk assets.
Also helping were upbeat comments on the economic outlook from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which were echoed by Treasury in its half-year fiscal review. kiwi has gained nearly 1 percent this week, having weathered a prospective change in government leadership.
Finance Minister Bill English is expected to be the country's next Prime Minister, following the shock resignation of John Key on Monday. Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= rose, sending yields as much as 5 basis points lower along the curve.
Australian government bond futures extended gains, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 up 1 tick at 98.100. The 10-year contract YTCc1 rose 5.5 ticks to 97.2900 in a bullish flattening of the curve, while the 20-year contract YXXc1 rose 4 ticks to 96.6100.
(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)